


Constellations

by Wynne_Jayne



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, One Shot, Soul healing, pure fluff guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-16 14:25:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12344466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wynne_Jayne/pseuds/Wynne_Jayne
Summary: Keith is acting weird: distant, moody, easily provoked.... okay, so maybe that's how Keith always acts but Lance KNOWS that something's up. And he's determined to find out what. Funny thing is, maybe he finds out a few... other things in the process.Video games, fluff and stars, what more could you want?





	Constellations

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, before the trauma of season 4 strikes us all (yes, I'm looking at you, Lauren, Joaquim), I thought I'd write a bit of fluff to ease the blow. Keith is the Black Paladin in this fic, and Lance and Allura are in the Red and Blue Lions respectively.
> 
> Also this fic was heavily inspired by Tom Odell's, Constellations (hey, look, that's the title, what do you know?) and I'd highly recommend listening to it. For me, it IS Klance. 
> 
> Any who, I hope you enjoy! :3

When it began, it was hardly noticeable.  
Nothing earth-shattering (or perhaps planet-shattering was more appropriate now, thought Lance with a shrug), just a slight disturbance in the planetary-orbit that had become their lives- a bit of cosmic dust in the system. It began, at breakfast.  
Everyone was gathered for Hunk’s latest creation, an alien version of French toast, and everything was completely, ineffectually normal: Pidge was tinkering with a handheld device she’d cooked up the night before, Coran was busy telling Shiro about one of his many “legendary” exploits into the depths of space, and Allura was quizzing Hunk about his use of a substance not unlike flour, having recently become the best of baking buddies. As for Lance, he was enjoying a fresh cup of tea which a store vendor had solemnly sworn was good for one’s complexion. Not that Lance needed help in that department but still, it smelled nice.  
Only Keith was absent from the table, no doubt having overslept after another night of vigorous Marmora training. He was really taking this stuff seriously, overworking to the point where he wasn’t acting as hot-headed as usual. Not that Lance was complaining. Worrying about their new leader going off like a rocket at any given moment was going to give him wrinkles, and Lance did not want wrinkles, thank you very much.  
So nobody thought much of it when Keith eventually surfaced from sleep to join them all. Hunk handed him a plate of breakfast and Keith grunted, before tucking into his food in stony silence. But then again, Keith had never been much of a talker.  
“And then!” Coran exclaimed, jumping up and swooping his knife and fork in a wild arc. “We beat the beast off with our bare hands!”  
Unfortunately, in his excitement, Coran knocked over Keith’s glass of water.  
“Hey!” Keith shouted. “Watch it!”  
“Oh, sorry Keith,” apologised Coran with a smile, while everyone chuckled. “I’m afraid I got swept up in the throes of memory and-”  
“Yeah, I got that,” snapped Keith, shortly. “Just keep it away from my food, kay?”  
Even Shiro blinked at Keith’s abruptness.  
“What?!” demanded Keith, glaring at each of them.  
Suddenly everyone was full and had other things to do. Only Lance lingered in the doorway, eavesdropping slightly when Shiro leaned into Keith to ask, “Is everything alright, Keith?”  
“Fine,” said Keith. He got up and shoved his food away. “I’m going to the training deck.”  
Lance watched him storm away with a frown on his face.

Xxx

After that explosive breakfast, things settled down again. They went on a few missions, advertised the collation, rescued planets- you get the idea. It still struck Lance as amazing that doing something so incredible could feel so mundane at times. Except the parades. They never got old. Lance could do the parade bit of Voltron every day. Maybe if Shiro ever decided to reclaim the black lion, Lance could be Voltron’s PR manager. Not as glamourous as being a paladin, maybe, but Lance thought he’d be good at the job, at least.  
It was the day after one such parade, during a spout of team training, when the second incident occurred. They should have known something was off when Keith was ten minutes late to training. Those two things, training and Keith being late, did not belong in the same sentence, and yet it happened. The team shrugged it off, however, put it down to tiredness, and got to work. Shiro paired them up for one on one combat. Lance groaned when he got Hunk, who despite his seemingly cuddly nature, couldn’t half throw a nasty punch. Sparring with Hunk left Lance with more bruises than he was willing to admit. So he gritted his teeth and put up his guard, ready to make a rush at his friendly giant of a buddy, when there was a sharp curse from across the room.  
“Hey!” shouted Pidge. “What the hell was that?!”  
She was strewn across the floor, helmet off and glasses askew. Keith was staring down at her with a blank look on his face.  
“It was a throw,” he said, frowning.  
“It hurt!” Pidge exclaimed.  
“What’s going on?” Shiro demanded, rushing over to the scene. He helped Pidge to her feet. “What happened?”  
“Keith threw a dirty shot, that’s what!” Pidge exclaimed, hotly. She tried to point accusingly at him, but flinched with pain and put her arm down.  
Shiro looked expectantly at Keith.  
“What?” demanded Keith. “I didn’t throw her that hard.”  
“Keith,” said Shiro warningly. “This was a warm up.”  
“And?” snapped Keith. Everyone froze when the words left his mouth. Nobody talked to Shiro like that, not even Allura.  
“Keith,” repeated Shiro, voice low.  
“Do you think the galra are going to fight honourably, Shiro?” asked Keith, voice quiet and dangerous. “You know they won’t! We need to start taking training seriously if we’re going to have a chance at defeating them! The Blade of Marmora have been training for centuries and we’ve only just begun! We can’t afford to be nice and hold hands and hope for the best. We have to get stronger. Now.”  
By this point Keith was quite red in the face.  
“Not if we injure our teammates in the process,” said Shiro, slowly. He examined Keith carefully, and then said, “I think you should take a walk.”  
“But-”  
“Take a walk Keith.”  
There was a pregnant pause in which Lance was sure Keith was going to argue. Instead, he threw down his helmet and stormed out of the room. Everyone watched him go in silence. 

Xxx

The third incident wasn’t quite so dramatic. In fact, Lance wouldn’t have even seen it if he hadn’t needed something to drink in the middle of one night. He’d woken up suddenly, not sure if he’d been dreaming or having a nightmare, and his throat was hot and raw. The glass he kept on the bedside table was empty, but that was okay. Lance had a craving for milk anyway. So he swung out of bed, flashes of images- rain and sky and fire- staining the back of his eyelids, and padded out into the hall. It was dark, and felt like early morning- that surreal time of in-between, when everyone is asleep but morning is already beginning to creep along the edges- and the castle was incredibly silent. Silent as space.  
Huh, duh, thought Lance, smiling despite himself.  
He shivered, rubbed his arms, and set out for the kitchen. It was by chance he went the long way, enjoying the quiet (yes, even Lance appreciated quiet sometimes) and went by the observation deck, a ballroom and the training deck. It was there, in the stillness of that hall, that Lance heard it. A blade ringing through the air.  
Curious, Lance paused outside the deck. He hesitated, just a moment, and then opened the door. Below him, through the glass, was Keith. He was alone, dressed in his Marmora gear, and was hacking away at a stationary gladiator. He wasn’t even fighting it- that couldn’t be called fighting. He was just swinging his sword again and again, striking the dummy over and over in a screech of metal and grunts. Lance wasn’t sure how long he stood there, watching Keith swing and pound and pummel, a look of utter frustration and rage straining his features.  
But eventually, Keith stopped.  
He stood there, chest heaving, hair a sweaty mess, and he shouted. A wordless bubble of wretched sound. Then he collapsed to his knees, head bent over, and began to cry.  
Feeling that he was seeing something he shouldn’t, Lance slowly backed out the door, frozen in place until it slid shut.  
Then he took a breath and continued to the kitchen.  
Eventually his quiet steps got faster. Longer. Purposeful. When Lance finally reached his destination, there was determination burning in his eyes.  
There was something up with Keith, and Lance was going to find out what. 

Xxx

The next morning, Lance made sure to go to the kitchen via Keith’s room. He got up early, timed his arrival and- boom! There was Keith emerging from his room. Grinning, Lance cracked his knuckles and set to work.  
“Keith, buddy!” he called, flinging an arm around Keith’s shoulders. Keith froze squarely in place. “Hey man, good morning!” continued Lance, pulling Keith in step with him. “Did you sleep well?”  
Keith just stared at him.  
“Er, hello? Ground control to major tom?” said Lance, smiling the friendliest smile he could muster.  
“Fine…” said Keith at last. He glanced down at Lance’s arm around his shoulder. “What are you doing?”  
“Just saying good morning to my fellow paladin,” Lance answered easily. Smooth. So smooth that even Lance was pleased with himself. “That’s not a problem, is it?”  
Keith blinked, obviously confused. “Well, no…”  
“Besides, who wouldn’t want to see my face first thing in the morning?” Lance said, bulldozing on and missing the way Keith rolled his eyes. “It’s good for the soul, and speaking of souls-”  
Huffing, Keith shook off Lance’s arm. “Look Lance,” he said, irritably. “I haven’t got time to mess around. I’ve got training.”  
Lance stepped back like a deflated balloon. “But what about breakfast?”  
“I’ll grab something later,” answered Keith, striding away down the hall.  
“You shouldn’t work out on an empty stomach!” Lance called after him. “Hey! Don’t ignore me. Keith. Keith!”  
But Keith was already gone.  
“Son of a-” Lance took a deep breath, and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. He grumbled darkly all the way to the kitchen, which earned him several looks of surprise at the breakfast table. But Lance ignored them in favour of plotting his next attempt at getting Keith to open up, because he’d get there. Lance would make Keith sing like a bloody canary. 

Xxx

 

After a busy week of saving an icy planet from the galra army (and one whole week of grouchy Keith, much to everyone’s joy), Lance made his move.  
“Alright, let’s pair up,” said Shiro. They were stood around in a circle, tense as wound-up Jack-in-the-boxes. Already, Keith had snapped at both Hunk and Allura and was standing as far away from the group as he could without looking too obvious. “Lance, team up with-”  
“Dibs on Keith!” Lance interrupted, leaping to Keith’s side like a nimble lizard.  
There was a shocked moment of silence.  
“O…kay,” Shiro said, at last. Everyone was staring at Lance as though he’d suddenly donned a grass skirt and started hula dancing. “You okay with that Keith?”  
Wordlessly, Keith just shrugged. When they all faced off against each other, he looked at Lance in puzzlement.  
“What’s the matter, Keith? You scared?” Lance taunted.  
Immediately, Keith’s mouth set into a hard, thin line. “You wish,” he said.  
When Lance ended up on his back several minutes later (it was a long several minutes dammit, and Lance hadn’t stretched properly that morning), Keith stood over him with something that might have been a smile on his face. It was the first time in a while he’d looked anything but angry.  
“What was that you were saying before?” he asked, holding out his hand to help Lance up.  
“Ah shut up,” Lance said, pulling on Keith’s offered arm. “I’m stiff, that’s all!”  
“Yeah, yeah, blame it on excuses all you want.”  
“Hey! Try saying that again, mullet! You can’t handle all of this muscle!”  
When Keith chuckled, the entire team heaved a sigh of relief. In fact, it was the most efficient training session they’d had for a while. When they all gathered at the observation later, drained and weary, there was a decidedly cheery atmosphere. Even Coran noticed it, appearing at the door to check in on everyone. He paid special attention to Allura, of course, doting on her like a dad, and went around handing out juice cartons. Keith even said thank you.  
“Good job today guys,” Shiro said, hands on hips. “You’re progressing brilliantly in combat skills. After our mission tomorrow, we’ll focus on some team formations. For now, get some rest.”  
Immediately, Keith got up to leave, as he usually did. But this time Lance jumped right up with him.  
“Hey buddy,” he said. “Where you going?”  
Keith blinked. “Er. Just the kitchen.”  
“Oh, you hungry?” asked Lance, slinging his arm around Keith’s shoulders once more. “Me too! Let’s go.”  
The entire team stared at Lance as though he’d grown another head.  
“Uh,” said Keith, eyeing the arm around his neck again. “I er-”  
“What?” asked Lance, innocently. “We can’t eat together? Come on, man, I’m starving!”  
In the end, Keith could only stare at Lance warily as he was dragged into the kitchen. That’s right, thought Lance, confidently. Nobody gets away from sharpshooter Lance. He made sure to sit right by Keith so he couldn’t ignore him, and chatted away the entire time:  
“So how’s Marmora training?”  
“Fine.”  
“Any hot blades?”  
“Um, I don’t really look.”  
“Hey, do you have any like, glara parts?”  
“Excuse me?”  
“Like a tail?”  
“A tail?”  
“Yeah, that’s a galra thing, right?”  
“I don’t have a tail.”  
“You sure?”  
“Of course I’m sure!”  
“Alright man, no need to get wound up. I was just wondering.”  
“Well don’t.”  
“…”  
“…”  
“Any purple-?”  
“Shut up Lance.”  
By the end of their meal, Lance had talked about every topic he could think of: their latest battle, Zarkon, recent planets they’d visited, comics, movies- and Keith was steadily turning redder than Lance’s lion.  
“And then my mom was like, Lance, put that down!” Lance prattled on, putting on the shrill, accented voice he used when imitating his mother. “And I was all like, but Mom! It wasn’t even me! It was Amara! And Amara’s stood there behind her, pulling faces, but did mom believe me? Nope. Like seriously, being the youngest sucks. I bet you’re an only child, right? Was it-?”  
“Is there a point to this?” Keith demanded, finally losing his temper.  
“Huh. Oh, well,” said Lance. He scratched his neck. Play it cool, play it cool. “Just talking. You know, lately you’ve-”  
“Well I think I’ve had enough of talking,” said Keith, bluntly. He stared at Lance awkwardly for a moment, obviously confused by the situation. Then he turned on his heel. “I’m going to my room.”  
“Oh okay!” called Lance, sitting forward. “So I’ll see you later?”  
Keith didn’t answer, he just threw a look of confusion over his shoulder, shook his head, and walked away  
“Okay,” Lance called, despite this. “Good talk. We’ll pick it up later!”  
The doors slid shut. But Lance wasn’t giving up. Not yet. Not by a long shot. 

Xxx

Over the next few weeks, Lance stuck to Keith as stubbornly as a grease stain to a pan.  
Whenever they had time, whenever Keith made an appearance: after battle, just after dinner, at solo-training sessions, Lance was there.  
“What’s up, Keith?”  
“Oh hey, Keith.”  
“Nice work on that manoeuvre, Keith.”  
“Wanna help me with Red, Keith?”  
“Keith!”  
It was driving Keith insane. He took to avoiding Lance whenever he could- changing route from his room to the kitchen, hesitantly sticking his nose into the training deck at ridiculous times, and even running straight from his lion to his room after a mission. But that was okay, Lance was a quick learner. Within a few weeks, Lance was roping Keith into group activates, provoking him into silly competitions or bugging him into just hanging out.  
“No!” yelled Keith, the sixth time Lance cornered him and asked if he wanted to play video games. “Okay? No. I don’t want to play some stupid game when the entire universe is in danger!”  
“Huh,” said Lance, casually leaning against the counter. “Sounds to me like someone’s… chicken.”  
Keith’s eye twitched.  
Two hours later, Lance was victorious and Keith was shouting at the monitor.  
Of course, Lance was no closer to finding out what was bothering Keith- he always shut down whenever Lance brought up anything personal- but he was so busy being annoyed at Lance that he wasn’t snapping at the team as much. It was better. Much better.  
“This game is rigged!” Keith shouted, just as Pidge and Hunk walked in.  
“Nah man,” said Lance with a laugh. “You just suck. Also I’m just that awesome at video games.”  
“Oh really?” asked Pidge, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Want to test that theory?”  
Lance grinned. “You picking a battle, small fry?”  
Pidge looked at Keith. Keith looked at Pidge. “Destroy him,” he said solemnly, handing Pidge the controller.  
“Gladly,” said Pidge, with an evil smirk.  
Another three hours later, Shiro and Allura walked in to find Hunk, Pidge and Keith all laughing hysterically at Lance, who was pouting in the corner. On screen, his character was a pile of ashes.  
“I can’t believe you have a video game battle cry!” Pidge exclaimed, wiping tears from her eyes.  
“What was it, like, Gyaaaaaaaaah!?” Hunk said, sobbing.  
“No, it was more like, Grrrrrryah!” Keith said, clutching at his side.  
And despite his wounded pride, Lance couldn’t help but feel relieved. It had been a while since they’d all laughed like this. When he glanced at Shiro, he could see his feelings reflected there.  
“You guys suck,” Lance whined, playing along.  
“Not as badly as you!”  
“Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side, Hunk!”  
“How can anyone be on your side when you make noises like that?”  
“SHUT UP.”  
“Hey now,” said Shiro, chuckling. “It’s a shame we don’t see this much energy in training.”  
“This is the earthling virtual reality system, is it not?” asked Allura, peeking at the monitor.  
“Yeah,” answered Pidge. “Me and Matt used to play this all the time.”  
“And fyi, Shiro,” Lance said, standing. “This is waaay more tense then any training session.”  
“Really?” Shiro asked, dubiously.  
To everyone’s surprise, Keith nodded his head.  
“See?” Lance exclaimed. “Even Keith agrees- and Keith’s like, the most intense person ever!”  
“It does seem rather interesting,” Allura said, fidgeting slightly. She glanced at Shiro, and that was all it took. Soon, both she and Shiro were in procession of a controller and were quickly engaged in deadly, mortal combat.  
Shiro. Sucked.  
“Are you sure you’ve never played this before?” Pidge asked Allura, when she’d completely destroyed Shiro’s defences yet again.  
“No, but it is rather a lot of fun!” Allura chimed, switching weapons to a deadly, fire-breathing mace. Shiro watched in despair as his character was pummelled and set alight. Hunk patted his shoulder consolingly. “Do humans do this often?”  
“All the time,” Lance answered. “Though some of us are better than others,” he added, throwing a knowing look in Keith’s direction. To Lance’s shock, Keith responded by elbowing him good-naturedly in the ribs.  
A few rounds later, Shiro defeatedly switched places with Pidge and, forget Zarkon, the battle between her and Allura was the most nail-biting thing Lance had ever seen. All of the boys gathered round, splitting into two supporting teams: Keith and Hunk cheering for Pidge, Lance and Shiro cheering for Allura. They yelled and hollered, gasping at close calls and calling for blood, while the girls sweated and glared and concentrated like their lives depended on it.  
In the end, Pidge won, but only by a hair and as soon as she did everyone collapsed in a tired heap.  
“Man, I’m tired,” said Hunk around a yawn. “I think I’m gonna hit the hay.”  
“Me too,” chimed Pidge. She sent Allura a wide smile. “Nice battle, princess.”  
“And you, Pidge,” Allura said. They laughed together, and then stood. “Goodnight,” they said, tottering tiredly through the door.  
“Yeah, see you guys,” added Hunk, also exiting the room. “Man, I can’t wait for breakfast.”  
Not long after, Shiro stood too. “Early to bed early to rise,” he muttered. He sent Lance and Keith a long, appraising look that Lance couldn’t place. “Good team work today.”  
“But we didn’t even train,” Keith protested.  
“No,” agreed Shiro, smiling warmly. “But sometimes it isn’t about training.”  
He swept away, and Lance and Keith were left alone.  
It had grown dark during their gaming. Well, it was always dark in space, but Coran tended to power down parts of the castle come a certain time, each room gradually falling into a shroud of shadow. It brought with it a unique stillness, a quiet: the whirring of machines and bleeping of computers ceased so that only the distant rumble of muffled engines could be heard. Sometimes, at night like this, when Lance lay on his back and closed his eyes, he could almost believe he was back home.  
Outside, the hallway slipped into pitch.  
“I couldn’t get used to it at first,” spoke a voice softly.  
It took Lance a moment to realise it was Keith who had spoken. The black paladin had been so quiet it was easy to forget he was there.  
“To what?” asked Lance curiously, sensing an opportunity. He was sat on the couch, while Keith was on the floor. In one fluid move, Lance slithered onto the floor too.  
“The sounds of the castle,” Keith went on, eyes fixed unseeingly on some imaginary image. “It’s so loud at night.”  
“Really?” asked Lance, surprised. “You think it’s loud?”  
“You don’t?” asked Keith, turning to him.  
Lance chuckled. “My house is ten times louder than this. My dad snores and my brother stays up playing halo until, like, four in the morning. It’s real circus”  
“Oh,” said Keith, absorbing this information. He paused for a moment, and then went on, slowly, “I can’t hear anything in the desert.”  
Progress! Thought Lance, giddily. Outwardly, however, he only nodded. Keep it cool, he reminded himself.  
“Do you miss it?” asked Lance.  
“What?” asked Keith. “The desert?”  
Lance nodded.  
Keith looked up at that imaginary scene again. “Bits of it, I guess. But not much.”  
“Which bits of it?”  
Suddenly, Keith’s eyes took on a dreamy quality, sparkling in the monitor’s light like precious stones. “The mountains, I guess. The way the horizon was never flat,” he paused, tasting his next words. He glanced at Lance, as though shy, and Lance did his best to look like an attentive listener. “The sunsets too. I think my favourite part of the day was getting back home with enough time to grab a drink and sit on the porch, watching the sun go down. The sky used to look like it was on fire.”  
“Sounds nice,” Lance said, voice dropping low. He stretched out onto the floor, hands behind his head, and stared up at the ceiling. “Know what I miss?”  
“Everything?” Keith asked, teasingly.  
“Well yeah,” Lance said. “But sky related? I miss the stars.”  
“…”  
“…”  
When Keith didn’t say anything else, Lance peeked up at him, only to find Keith staring at him like he was an idiot.  
“What?” he asked.  
“Lance… we’re in space,” Keith said.  
“Yeah, so?”  
“We’re literally surrounded by stars!”  
“Yeah,” Lance agreed. “But, it’s like, they’re not my stars. Our stars. Like, when I was a kid, mom and dad would haul everyone outside the city to go camping, and we’d bring a telescope with us. A proper one, and we’d all sit there eating food and bickering and fighting to have a look. We had a book of constellations, the big dipper, the plough,” he paused, suddenly filled with memory. “I can’t see any of that here.” He finished, quietly.  
There was a pause.  
“What else do you miss about the desert?” asked Lance, at last.  
“The rain,” said Keith at once.  
“I didn’t think rain and desert went together,”  
“They do,” said Keith firmly. “When it hits, when it’s been a really long time and then it’s there so suddenly… it’s the best smell in the world.”  
“Better than pizza?”  
Keith shot Lance an annoyed glance. “What?”  
“When I’m hungry, I don’t think anything smells better than pizza, man.”  
This was so nonsensical that Keith only shook his head and grumbled something under his breath about priorities. Lance chortled quietly to himself. They dipped into another silence, and Lance realised that somewhere along the way it had become comfortable: not talking. It felt right.  
“Hey man,” Lance said, at last, feeling this was the time to take the plunge. “I know you’ve been stressed out recently-” Keith tensed. “And I just wanted to ask, is everything okay?”  
“Fine,” answered Keith shortly. “Everything’s fine.”  
“Cause if you ever wanted to, you know, talk, I’d listen. I mean, you helped me out, remember? We’ve all got to unload sometimes,” he glanced at Keith, to show that he meant it, and then broke into a grin. “And I mean, come on, we all know I’ve got mad listening skills, after all. One of my many talents.”  
Keith snorted, but it was with good humour. “Yeah, you’re a real bag of talent.”  
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that sarcasm.”  
“The way you pretend you have any talent at all?”  
“Hey!”  
Keith chuckled. Lance mumbled something to himself.  
“Is… you know,” stuttered Keith. He bit his cheek and started again. “These past few weeks… it’s been nice.”  
“Huh?” asked Lance.  
“Being with everyone,” Keith forced out. It might be the lights from the monitor but Lance could swear that the tips of Keith’s ears were red. “It was… nice.”  
“Yeah,” agreed Lance, stretching his legs. “It has been nice… who knew Allura was such a beast at video games though?”  
“I’m not surprised. Have you seen her fight?”  
“Yeah but Shiro sucked,” Lance argued. “If he fought the way he gamed we’d all be a paladin shish kabob right now!”  
Keith snorted again, though this time it was on the verge of a laugh.  
“Do you… do you think we could keep on like this?” asked Keith, voice barely above a whisper. “I mean- do you- er, I-” he huffed angrily and blurted. “The way it’s been- nice I mean. Maybe we should try and keep it that way?”  
This, Lance thought, was an odd thing to suggest. It seemed only natural to him to try and maintain this new happy medium. Nobody wanted grumpy Keith back.  
“Sure man,” he replied breezily. “I think that’s best.”  
Keith smiled at him then. It was a small, hesitant smile, full of apprehension. Lance guessed he was feeling guilty about his moods.  
“Okay then,” said Keith. “Good.”  
Lance stifled a yawn then. It was really late. “I think I’m gonna head to bed,” he said, stretching like a cat. “Need my beauty sleep.”  
“Sure,” answered Keith, immediately standing up. They walked towards the bedrooms together, not really talking, and when Lance reached his room, Keith put a hand on his shoulder. “Night, Lance,” he said, hand lingering. “See you in the morning- and, thanks.”  
“You too, buddy,” said Lance, not thinking much of it. “Dream of cowboy sunsets, yeah?”  
Keith just shook his head at him, and then slipped away down the hall.  
Well, thought Lance with a smirk. That was easier than I thought.  
He was very much aware that Keith hadn’t actually told him the reason for his recent moods, but there was time for that. Lance was confident it would be easier now.  
Oh, how wrong he was. 

Xxx

From the next day onwards, Keith was very… different.  
It was a bit weird, actually. One day he was trying to avoid Lance on the way to the kitchen and the next, he was waiting in the hall for Lance to emerge from his bedroom, smiling in that same, hesitant way. He began standing at Lance’s side during the group briefings, grabbing a spare carton of juice after training, he stopped hiding in his room, instead actively seeking out the rest of the team and stopped snapping at people.  
Even Hunk was freaked out. “What did you do to him?” asked Hunk, after Keith offered to show Pidge how to do a complicated manoeuvre on some distant, abandoned planet.  
Lance shrugged. “I don’t know- talked about the desert?”  
“Well maybe we should all talk about the desert more often,” Hunk whispered. “Cause this is great.”  
Lance could only agree (and pat himself smugly on the back for being a complete genius, of course). They were sat on a small cliff, watching Keith and Pidge go up and down in their lions, and the weather was warm and pleasant. Lance was tempted to take a nap, but one look at Allura convinced him otherwise: she was watching her teammates so attentively that she might as well have been taking notes. Her eagerness guilted Lance into paying attention to Keith’s demonstration, even just a little, though it quickly transformed into awed appreciation.  
Sometimes, he forgot what a marvel Keith’s flying was. Back at the Garrison, it had always been a source of envy- a reminder that Lance would never be as good. But here, now, with most of that behind him, Lance could acknowledge that Keith’s flying was a thing of beauty.  
Though he’d rather die a very slow, very painful death than ever admit that outloud.  
When the green and black paladin finally touched down, Pidge’s hair was a fuzzy bob and Keith looked equally dishevelled.  
“That was wild!” Pidge exclaimed, happily.  
Keith laughed at her enthusiasm. “Yeah, well, keep at it and you might get better than me.”  
“Whoa now, don’t be giving her ideas, Keith,” chimed Hunk, grinning. “She’ll be better than us at everything then.”  
Pidge nudged him with her elbow.  
It was all good.  
Until it wasn’t.  
That night, they hit a galra ambush at the outskirts at one of their allied planets. It was heavy. There was a lot of fire… and a lot of casualties. Later on, when Voltron finally managed to drive the enemy ships away, Lance was wandering through the emergency medical tents they’d erected on Plant Varis. Allura was busy running back and forth with Coran, ferrying as many badly-injured natives as they could to the healing pods. Shiro and Keith were putting up beds while Pidge and Hunk wired up support machines. It was overwhelming to say the least- and not just for Lance. There was a group of kids gathered in a frightened huddle, waiting to be reunited with their families, and Lance decided to play the clown for them. By the time their families finally arrived, Lance had them laughing at his wiggly dance moves.  
It was a long night, and by the time it was over, everyone was exhausted.  
The paladins gathered like ghosts in the castle, staring blankly into space.  
“We should have done more,” Keith spoke into the silence.  
“There was nothing we could do,” Shiro responded, solemnly.  
“There’s always something more to do!” Keith exploded, standing up.  
Shiro just looked at him tiredly.  
“Keith,” Allura said, voice weighed with sadness. “We cannot stay too long. They are safe. We must move on.”  
Keith bit his lip. “This isn’t our best,” he said, quiet fury in his voice. “We can do better! It isn’t good enough, we should-”  
“Keith,” Shiro said sharply. “Enough.”  
There was a moment of silent agony. Keith looked despairingly at Shiro, at Pidge and Hunk and Allura and Lance. Then he turned, and stormed away.  
Later, there was a quiet knock at Lance’s door.  
“Hey man,” Lance said, surprised to find Keith there. “You okay?”  
After a moment, Keith shook his head. “Can I come in?”  
In answer, Lance stepped aside to allow Keith into his room. When he just sort of stood there, awkwardly, Lance sat down and patted the bed beside him. Stiffly, Keith sat down.  
“Is something the matter?” Lance asked, when Keith said nothing.  
Again, Keith bit his lip- a look of rage in his eyes.  
“Dude,” Lance said. “I know it’s hard, but you can’t blame the team for-”  
“I don’t,” Keith interrupted, finally facing Lance. It was then that Lance understood: it wasn’t fury in his eyes, it was shame. “It’s me, Lance. If Shiro was piloting the black lion, none of that would have happened!”  
Oh, thought Lance, things sliding into place. Oh. A sudden, tender feeling bloomed in his chest.  
“Keith,” he whispered. “This isn’t your fault.”  
“Isn’t it?” Keith demanded. He dropped his head, unable to look Lance in the eye anymore. “Ever since I started leading, Voltron has been all over the place. I can’t- I’m not cut out to be a leader, Lance.”  
“That’s garbage and you know it, Keith,” said Lance, willing him to look up. “Hey, listen to me… listen.” He took Keith by the shoulders, forcing the other boy’s face up. “What happened tonight would have happened whether it was you or Shiro in the black lion. We have to focus on the fact that things weren’t as bad because we were there. We saved a lot of people tonight, you saved a lot of people tonight. Don’t disregard that, okay?”  
Eyes lowered, Keith nodded ever so slightly.  
“Okay?” Lance insisted, giving Keith’s shoulders a squeeze.  
At last, Keith’s dark eyes flickered up. “Yeah… I get it.”  
Suddenly, Lance became very aware of how small his room was, and how close he was sat to Keith. They were almost sharing air.  
“It’s just,” Keith went on, before Lance could think too hard about the knot in his stomach. “It’s a lot of pressure, you know? I know I’ve been pretty shit recently but…” he blew out an angry breath, frustrated that he couldn’t give life to his feelings through words. “I don’t know! Having Shiro back but not having Shiro back, everyone expecting me to make the rights decisions, and then last week at Marmora training-” he broke off, suddenly, like someone had sucked the air from his lungs.  
“Last week?” Lance prompted gently. He tried to hide his surprise- because he was surprised. He’d always assumed that Keith just smacked a training dummy until he felt better. He was only just realising how much he’d missed when it came to Keith- too wrapped up in his own doubts. “What happened last week?”  
Instinctively, Keith shifted closer to Lance, dropping his voice. “Kolivan mentioned something…” there air was thick with tension, and when Keith looked at Lance, his eyes were almost frightened. “He said that if they compare my blade’s markings to their database… they might be able to identify my mother. Maybe even locate her.”  
Lance blinked in surprise.  
“Keith… Keith. Man that’s… that’s great!”  
Keith said nothing.  
“Isn’t it?” asked Lance.  
“I… don’t know,” Keith said. “What if… what if she doesn’t want me? If she is still… alive, why hasn’t she come to find me?”  
The world rocked for Lance in that moment. He looked at Keith and he saw something he hadn’t before- something raw and frightened and hurt. A wild thing that wasn’t used to cooperating or living with people, caring for people and being cared for. He saw a lost kid and it was terrifying how protective Lance felt in that moment. For the first time, he felt like he was really seeing Keith. Not a rival, not the symbol of everything Lance wasn’t, just another, lost kid.  
The knot in his gut tightened.  
“Keith,” he whispered, also inching closer, hands still on his shoulders. “If she didn’t want you… well, quiznack, she’d be an idiot! You’re-” he swallowed. “You’re strong and brave- like, stupidly so, don’t you have any common sense? And you’re a great friend and leader, and goddamn it Keith- I’ve always been jealous of you.”  
“Jealous… of me?” asked Keith, blinking. “Why?”  
“Because,” said Lance, exasperated. “Of all of those reasons!” When Keith didn’t respond, just sat there confused, Lance ran a frustrated hand through his hair. His cheeks were blazing. “Geez Keith,” he said. “You just- you just really don’t get how awesome you are, do you?”  
Now, Keith cheeks turned crimson.  
“I mean,” said Lance, trying not to look at him. “Come on, man. You must know how great you are.”  
“I really, really don’t,” Keith said, face the colour of a tomato.  
The change in complexion caught Lance’s eye and he braved a glance, surprised to find that Keith’s face was brighter than the red lion.  
“Well you are,” Lance continued, fascinated with this reaction. “I’m mean I-” Lance swallowed his pride. He swallowed it right down into the pits of his stomach, because things were weird and Keith was weird and he could say this now, “I look up to you.”  
Keith was practically violet.  
Lance felt himself leaning closer to get a better look, hypnotised.  
“Well, I look up to you too!” Keith exploded, violently.  
“Huh?”  
Keith stuck out his chin stubbornly. “You keep going on about being jealous of me- but you don’t know how much I wish I could talk to people like you do. You just go around making friends and-” he stopped, unable to for words and let out an angry noise of frustration. “I’m jealous of you, idiot!”  
“Yeah?” asked Lance, smirking and trying to hide it. “Well not as much as I am of you!”  
“This isn’t a competition, stupid!”  
“Oh yeah!?”  
“Yeah!” Keith shouted.  
They were so close now that Lance could feel his breath. Keith seemed to suddenly become aware of this and his mouth snapped sharply shut.  
Suddenly, Lance could take it anymore. He snorted, and the snort turned into a laugh. He collapsed onto the bed in a fit of giggles. Keith stared at him disgustingly.  
“I’m sorry,” Lance said, between laughs. “It’s just- snort- this is so- giggle- your face!”  
“Wow, intelligent Lance,” Keith said, deadpan. “Did I say I was jealous of you? I meant I questioned your sanity.”  
“Really though, Keith,” said Lance, recovering. “Don’t ever blame yourself like that. And whether you look for your mom or not, whatever happens, you’ve got us.”  
“I just-” Keith sighed. “I guess I’m just stressed out.”  
Suddenly, an idea occurred to Lance. “Wait right here,” he said, springing up and running into his bathroom. When he returned, there was a tub of face mask in his hands.  
Keith eyed it warily. “I don’t-”  
“Shut up and put the stuff on your face, Keith.”  
Soon, they were both stretched out on Lance’s bed, looking like two creatures from the lagoon. They talked while they waited for the masks to dry- whittling away the hours until the castle grew still in its night time way. When the masks were washed away, they remained on Lance’s bed, feet touching, and talked until their voices grew quiet and hoarse.  
“Hey Keith,” Lance whispered. The knot in his stomach was tighter than its ever been.  
“Yeah?” Keith whispered back, turning to look at Lance.  
Later, Lance would blame the Keith for it- because he looked so warm and pretty lying there like that, eyes meeting Lance’s- but for now all of Lance’s thoughts melted away. Slowly, he leaned in and brushed his lips against Keith’s. When he leaned back, Keith’s eyes were wide as saucers.  
“I-” began Lance, but Keith jumped up suddenly.  
“I, er, gotta go,” Keith said, hurriedly pulling on his jacket.  
“Oh,” said Lance, trying not to look disappointed. “Okay.”  
“Yeah,” said Keith. He glanced at Lance, and then away. “Later.”  
The door slid shut.  
Lance gave it two whole minutes, then he proceeded to stuff his face into his pillow and freak the fuck out.

Xxx

The next day, Keith didn’t come down for breakfast.  
He didn’t come down at all. Marmora training, he said.  
Lance spent the day miserable, and no amount of jokes from Hunk or caring questions from Allura could cheer him up.  
Instead, he spent the entire day staring at the door, willing Keith to appear.  
But he never did.

Xxx

It was two days later, and Lance was feeling even more miserable.  
Keith still hadn’t appeared, and now the rest of the team were busy with different jobs. Several times, Lance had walked in on Hunk and Pidge to ask them to play video games, only to be shut down.  
“Sorry Lance, got this thing to do.”  
“Yeah, me too. A new lead on Matt, sorry.”  
It was the same story with Shiro and Allura, and even Coran blew him off.  
It sucked.  
So Lance spent the day playing video games by himself, eating by himself, he even hit the training deck by himself in a desperate attempt at occupying himself. By the time it hit dinner time, Lance was so done with the day.  
Figuring he’d see everyone at the kitchen table, Lance took a shower and changed into his casual clothes, leaving his hair wet. He’d blow dry it in a bit.  
But then there was a knock at his door. Upon opening it, Lance found one of Pidge’s drones hovering in the air.  
“Huh,” said Lance. “Hey there. What are you-”  
The robot moved down the hall… and waited.  
Hesitantly, Lance padded down the hall. Immediately the drone took off again, so Lance figured he was supposed to follow it. Shrugging, he started after the thing.  
It took him past the bedrooms, the kitchens, even the pool room, to the very outskirts of the castle where the space pods where. It was dark there, and Lance couldn’t get the power to come on. It was creepy.  
“Okay Pidge, if this is a joke, it’s not funny,” Lance said, warily following the steady light of the drone into the dark. “This is starting to get weird, can we just-” suddenly, there was a loud bang and the drone died. “HEY!” Screamed Lance.  
The lights flew on, and Lance saw that he’d been led into an open pod. Behind the glass of the now closed door, Pidge, Hunk, Allura, Shiro and Coran grinned back at him.  
“WHAT GIVES YOU GUYS?!” Lance hollered, banging on the glass. “LET ME OUT!”  
They all shook their head, smiling, and started to wave. With a lurch, the pod was ejected into space.  
“AHHHHHHHHHHH!” Lance screamed. “WHAT THE HECK?”  
It was a short journey, no more than three minutes, and then the pilot door slid open. Keith stepped out.  
“Keith?!” Lance shrieked. “What the hell? What’s going on?!”  
“Lance, calm down,” Keith said, hands up in peace. “I just, I wanted to apologise.”  
“And you felt the need to kidnap me into SPACE for that?!” Lance demanded.  
“Well, no, not exactly,” said Keith crossing his arms, aggression seeping into his tone. “And I didn’t kidnap you.”  
“YOU TOOK ME AGAINST MY WILL INTO SPACE!”  
“Would you calm down for a sec?” Keith demanded. “It’s not kidnapping- it’s a surprise!”  
“Surprise?” Lance repeated, finally taking a breath. He’d forgotten how to breathe for a second then. “What surprise?”  
In answer, Keith punched some instructions into the system, and the entire back end of the pod went suddenly translucent. It was like they were floating in space, which they did a lot, but never with something solid under their feet.  
“Whoa,” Lance breathed.  
“Pidge set it up,” Keith explained. “With some help from Hunk and Coran and the princess,” he smiled shyly, and continued. “There’s more. Sit down for a sec.”  
Lance did as instructed, awestruck.  
Licking his lips, Keith punched in some more instructions. Suddenly the stars blinked out of existence, flitting momentarily to black and then blinked back, rearranged. It took Lance a moment, a very long moment, but then he got it. He recognised this pattern… was it…?  
“Is that the big dipper?” Lance asked, pointing like a little kid.  
Keith inclined his head.  
“Keith,” Lance breathed. “This is… awesome!”  
“You like it?”  
“Dude, I freakin’ love it!”  
Keith breathed a sigh of relief. “Good,” he said. “Good. I, er, I wanted to say sorry, for the other night. I freaked out.”  
“It’s cool man,” Lance said, shaking his head. “I came out of nowhere and I probably spooked you. It won’t effect-”  
“No!” Keith interrupted, starting forward. “That’s not-” he huffed angrily again. “That’s not why I freaked out. I freaked out because I didn’t think you were interested. Not like me.”  
It took Lance a while to process this.  
“I mean,” Keith continued. “You’re always flirting with girls and I thought you were just being nice, I mean I never thought it could actually happen, and then you freakin’ kissed me and I thought I was going to explode so I freaked out and left and immediately felt like the biggest jack ass in the universe.” He stopped, breathing hard, and stood there like a rabbit in the head lights.  
“Wait,” said Lance slowly. “So… you like me?”  
“YES!” Keith exploded. “Yes you idiot!”  
“Since when?”  
“What do you mean, since when?”  
“When did you start liking me?”  
“I don’t-“ Keith frowned, not liking being on the back pedal, and demanded. “Well when did you start liking me?”  
Lance smirked. “I thought everything didn’t have to be a competition, Keith.”  
“It’s not!”  
Lance laughed, and, after a pause, Keith laughed too.  
“I’m just gonna assume you liked me first, just so you know,” said Lance, wiping away a stray tear.  
“Well I’ll assume you like me first,” Keith countered.  
“I haven’t said I liked you, yet,” commented Lance, lightly.  
Immediately, Keith’s chest fell. “Oh…” he said, holding himself awkwardly.  
Lance felt his heart tighten at his forlorn expression. “Oh, come here, you jerk,” Lance said, snapping up Keith’s hand and dragging him down to sit beside him. Mimicking last night, Lance put both his hands on Keith’s shoulders and looked straight into his eyes. “I like you, Keith,” he said clearly. “I like you.”  
Keith burst into crimson again, eyebrows furrowed. “Really?” he asked.  
“Really,” confirmed Lance.  
They stared at each other, suddenly at a loss at what to do.  
“So…” said Lance. “I guess we’re boyfriends now?”  
“I guess,” said Keith, cringing at the term.  
“I wonder what the team’s gonna say when we get back.”  
“Don’t know,” said Keith. He fidgeted awkwardly, and then said, quietly, “I don’t want to go back just yet, though.”  
“What do you want to do then?”  
Keith refused to look at Lance’s face. “I, er, I don’t really know any of the constellations… I thought… maybe…?”  
Lance grinned broadly.  
Not long after, the pair were on their backs, arms stretched out to trace the stars of their world. Their hands were linked between them, and they were curled around one another in a tentative, sweet embrace. Keith’s hair tickled Lance’s nose, and Lance’s long legs overlapped Keith’s, their breathing rose and fell in tandem.  
It was strange, the constellations over Lance’s head were the constellations from his childhood, as familiar as the ocean or the sky, yet here, in this moment, with Keith tucked up by his side, they looked different- rearranged to the crazy beating of his heart- and they’d never looked more beautiful.  
“What’s that?” asked Keith, pointing.  
“Hmm?” it took Lance a moment to recorgnise it. He chuckled. “That’s leo.”  
“Like lion?”  
“Yeah. It’s also my star sign. Is this a set up for a come on?”  
“What?”  
“Cause pickup lines are still my thing,”  
“I wasn’t trying to-”  
“Like, baby, who took the stars out of the sky and put them in your eyes?”  
“Lance,”  
“Or- or, how about, are you strategically arranged carbon atoms? Cause, baby, you shine like a diamond. Hunk helped me with that one.”  
“Lance,”  
“Or-”  
Swiftly, Kith leaned into Lance’s space, grabbed his head, and silenced him with a long, unsure kiss. Lance melted into it, completely struck, and pulled Keith against him. When they came up for air, there really were stars reflected in Keith’s eyes: familiar and yet unfamiliar constellations, but that was okay. Lance was willing to learn them all over again, slowly, until he knew every one by heart.

**Author's Note:**

> I will love Voltron no matter what, but I SERIOUSLY HOPE THEY MAKE KLANCE CANON. ToT
> 
> Other songs I listened to while writing this fic are, Dodie's, Sick of Losing Soulmates, a lot of Falling In love with a Ghost, and basically everything Tom Odell. Go listen to him- he's pretty and very talented!
> 
> Thanks again for reading! Feel free to leave a comment about you liked and didn't like, I'd love some feedback. :)  
> Also, if you just want to chat Voltron, my tumblr is sevenringsofvoltron. I just started doing Klance head canons there. Bye!


End file.
